Apparatus for the carbonization of coals



Aug. 9, 1932.

H, F. MAURII-IL 1,870,523

APPARATUS FOR THE CARBONIZATION OF GOALS Filed Sept. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l M72200 R f /Yea Aug. 9, 1932. H. F. MAUREL APPARATUS FOR THE CARBONIZATION OF GOALS Filed Sept. 21, 1929 2 Shgets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT orsicr;

HENRY F. MAUREL, OF Z ROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO MAUREL INVEST- MENT CORPOEATEON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A COEECBA'EION OF RHODE ISLAND APPARATUS FOR THE CARBONZZATION OF GOALS Application filed September 21, 1929. Serial Non 394,245.

i surface hardens the briquettes, and finally through a retorting zone which finally prepares the briquettes for transportation and combustion.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide for the application of heat, both by radiation and convection, under the distilling zone, without contact with the products of combustion, for the purpose of bringing the briquettes up to a distilling temperature soon after they enter this zone and while they are on the low-er strand of the conveyor which moves back and forth therein; to provide for the introduction in the hardening zone of products of combustion, or other suitable gases available, under pressure after they have subjected the briquettes to indirect heat for a period of time, to isolate the retorting hopper from the water seal underneath by a balfle or sealed wall which has only a. cont paratively small opening to permit the discharge of the product from this hopper, thus preventing the interference of steam from the water seal with the baking of the product;

. to provide means for taking the small amount of vapor that comes in through the said small opening out of the retort hopper immediately; to insure the manufacture of a unirorm product by providing a positive and uniform circulation of gases in the apparatus through which the briquettes pass; to provide in the retort hoppers heat distributing arrangement having openings all the way up and down the walls thereof to force the heatdownwardly therefrom, serving as an inlet for the heat, and an outlet or outlets having openings slanting upwardly to provide for forcing the heated products of combustion into the retorting hopper under positive pressure and drawing them out by suitable fans through the sides by the aid of suction to insure that the gases will pass through the product as it travels downwardly and insure a thorough and uniform treatment of each and every briquette; to provide, in combination with other parts of the apparatus, a means for regulating the temperature of the products of combustion introduced into the fuel hopper in the form of a fuel economizer adapt-ed to be suitably regulated and to provide the water seal tank with a sloping bottom along which the bottom can be flushed at suitable intervals to prevent accumulation therein of sediment which has a tendency to harden.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a vertical sectional view taken longitudinally through an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the means for heating the distilling zone taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

3 is a plan partly in section, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line el4 of Fig. 1 showing the means for circulating the products of combustion in the retorting zone.

This apparatus is employed for the utilization of coal according to a method in which the coal is first ground line and mixed thoroughly with an asphalt base fuel oil, or other suitable binder,to make a plastic mass which is then formed into briquettes, preferably by extruding through a nozzle and cut off to form briquettes which may be of cylindrical form, or otherwise. The binder is waterproof, preferably, so that when the briquettes are introduced through a seal of water or other liquid, they will not absorb much moisture. Tl is is all shown in my application for United States Patent, Serial No. 3%, 538, filed March 5, 1929, from which part of this case is continued.

This process begins with the delivering of the soft briquettes, thus formed, down through a chute 12 into a series of baskets 13 which are pivotally mounted on an endless conveyor 1a which traverses throughout the three zones of the device. The baskets loaded with briquettes pass under the chute 12 to the right and down into a liquid seal tank which contains a considerable amount of water or other liquid and they then, going over certain guide and supporting rolls or sprockets, pass upwardly into a distilling chamber 9 of the oven. \Vithout describing at the present time the method of heating the various zones, it is suificient to say that the conveyor 14 passes back and forth through the chamber 9, which constitutes a distilling zone, and there the briquettes receive heat, in a way to be described but always indirect- .5 heat, so they do not come into contact with any products of combustion. The course of the conveyor through this chamber is back and forth, but continuously upward, and finally the conveyor comes down through a vertical passage. 16 at theend of this chamber into the tank 15 and upwardly through a second vertical passage 10. This constitutes a second liquid seal.

It will be seen that the briquettes have to pass through the liquid between these two vertical passages, the first of which is heated by indirect heat and then go upwardly from the passage 10 into a horizontal passage 11 which is provided with horizontal conduits19 open at their outer ends. The briquettes in these passages 10 and 11, which constitute a second chamber in the oven, are subjected first to indirect heat from the pipes 19 and then to the direct products of combustion coming from the open ends of these pipes and surface baked or hardened. The conveyor 14 passes out of the upper passage 11 horizontally into the top of the retorting or carbonizing compartment, preferably located within the walls of the same oven, and constituting the third chamber or zone of this process. This is provided with a retort ca able of receiving an immense amount of briquettes and the baskets are automatically turned over when they pass the center of this retort, which is open at the top, and dump the now distilled and hardened briquettes into the hopper 20. They are treated in this hopper, as will be described hereinafter, and

dropped out on a conveyor 18 which operates continuously and dumps these briquettes in the baskets 13 of the conveyor 14 on the return strand under water. Thus they are passed through a third liquid seal, all three being shown as contained in the tank 15. The conveyor then moves upwardly to the dis charge point where they are dumped on the transverse conveyor 48 and delivered from this apparatus. The bottom of the tank 15 is made sloping in both directions to a cleanout opening and the sloping bottom can be flushed out toward this clean-out by flush nozzles 36. This is desirable because the sediment hardens and might eventually accumulate enough to stop the conveyor,

These various chambers or zones can be heated in diiferent ways and I have shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 a convenient way of providing the necessary heat and cutting down the temperature which has to be done. Heat is generated in a furnace 25 and a pipe or conduit 26 is shown for introducing it into the bottom of the distilling chamber 9. In that zone, the heat from the conduit 26 enters a header 47 which is divided into upper and lower compartments, the heat and gases entering the lower compartment. Heating pipes 46 are provided and connected at the opposite end to a header to conduct the products of combustion under the distilling zone without allowing them to come in contact with the briquettes. The gases pass through the lower pipes 46 to the header 40, back to the top of the header 47 through the upper pipes 46, through a conduit 29 and a booster fan 31 draws them out and forces them along a pipe 32.

In the distilling zone proper, if more heat is required, horizontal ducts 27 are provided whichare connected to a side tower or header 49 at one end. This header 49 is above the header 47 and is connected to the upper compartment thereof. Between the header 49 and 47 is a damper 38 which can be opened at will if more heat is required. The ducts 27 are connected to side-header or tower 39, and the gases entering the header 49 pass through the lower ducts 27 to the side-headers 39 and back through the upper ducts 27 to the header 49 again. A conduit from the booster fan 31 also is connected to the top of the header 49, draws the gases out and passes them into the pipe 32. Horizontal partition 17 is provided in the distilling zone to deflect the heat therein and to deflect the lighter constituents distilled off from the coal and oil. Outlet pipes 28 deliver the oil and moisture vapors from the coal to a condenser 30 which is operated by a pump 42. Thus the lower heating system is separated from the upper heating system by a damper and both are connected to the intake of the booster fan 31. By this arrangement, if the product has reached the desired distilling temperature in the lower zone, the damper 38 is closed and the gases are drawn out by the booster fan directly from the lower heating system without using the upper heating system.

The moisture and oil vapors in the distilling Zone are circulated by a blower 50 down under the pipes 46 to additionally heat the distilling zone by convection without contact of the products of combustion with the briquettes. Battles 51 are shown for deflecting this current of vapors up and down among the pipes 46 to increase the efliciency of this action, the current of vapors moving approximately in the manner indicated by the curved arrow line in Fig. 1. The gases then pass out from the top of this header 49 through a conpass out through outlets ll.

duit 29 and a booster fan 31 draws them out and forces them along a pipe 32. This pipe has a branch 33 which delivers the gases into the pipe or hollow walls 19 in the hardening chamber. In this case the conduits extend throughout this zone and open at the opposite end. Thus this zone is heated indirectly and then further heated by the products of combustion which pass back through i They It will be noticed that in their course the products of combustion move along the endless conveyor 14 all the way back to offtaltes 41. The pipe or conduit 32 has another branch 3 which passes back into the furnace 25 to re-use any surplus hot gases.

I have found that while the products of combustion drawn out from the indirect heating system in the distilling zone by the booster fan are the proper temperature for subsequent use in the hardening zone, it developed that this temperature was a little too high for use in the retorting hopper where these gases are also required. It is a most advantageous feature of my invention that the gases used in the distilling, hardening and retorting zones are required at successively lower temperatures. Unfortunately however, the gases drawn out of the hardening zone, although at the proper temperature, could not very well be used in the retorting zone because they have become somewhat contaminated with steam and oil vapors in said hardening zone. To provide cool and uncontaminated products of combustion for use in the retorting hopper I employ a fuel economizer 52. The main conduit 32 passes through the fuel economizer 52 which also heats the water going to the I boilers of the plant or furnishes hot water for any er purpose.

In order to manufacture a uniform prod not I have found it desirable to insure a positive and uniform circulation of suitable gases at a suitable temnerature through the product in the retorting zone. Therefore, I lead these gases from the fuel economizer 52 through the continuation of the pipe 32 into the center of the retort zone where they enter a heat distributing device. This is in the form of a top 53 of inverted V-shape located in the middle and near the top of the hopp r and running throughout its length longitudinally. Down the sides from this top 53 are parallel louvres 54 all the way down to the bottom of the hopper. These louvres are arranged in the form of metallic slats located in inclined position with the spaces between them inclined downwardly from the interior so they discharge the products of combustion from the pipe 32 into the body of briquettes in a downwardly slanting direction on both sides. This forms an intake for the hot gases which are delivered under pressure from the blower 31 so as to force; them into the body of the briquettes which are gradually travelling downward.

The outlets are formed by two series of louvres 55 slanting upwardly from the body of briquettes preferably located on the opposite sides of the inlet. These outlets discharge through chambers 56 into conduits 57 from which the gases are drawn by a fan 58 and discharged through an outlet 59 partly into the furnace 25 as required and the surplus outdoors. lt will be seen therefore that the gases introduced under pressure in the center of the retorting zone are further aided by suction from the louvres so the said gases must necessarily pass through the procluct in its downward travel and insure a uniform and thorough carbonization of each and every briquette.

The lower part of the chamber 10 is provided with a conduit 60 which discharges into the pipe 57.

I have found that the presence of steam or humidity in the retorting hopper interferes with the baking of the product. Therefore I have isolated the retorting hopper from the water seal underneath which naturally furnisaes steam on account of the heated condition. This isolation is formed by a wall or bathe plate 62 having a small opening 63 to permit discharge of briquettes from the hopper to the conveyor underneath traveling through the water seal. Any steam coming up through this opening is discharged immediately by means of a suction fan 64 discharging through an outlet 65. In a similar way suction fans 66 discharge through outlets 67 any steam that may start to go up the passages 16, 10 and the opposite side of the retorting zone 20.

It will be seen that the briquettes, being provided with binding material consisting of an oil such as described, can be passed through the water seals without their absorbing much water, that the intermediate water seal separates the distilling chamber from the retorting or carbonizing chamber and the hardening chamber from both. In this way the indirect or radiant heat in the distilling chamber will take off some of the oil from the briquettes and the volatile constitucuts and moisture from the coal and pass them into a condenser 30 through oiftakes 28 but otherwise it is entirely sealed from other gases and especially from the products of combustion from the furnace. The distilling chamber is efiectively preheated so that it is effective from the moment the briquettes first enter it.

The operation taking place in the hardening chamber 11 is entirely independent from that taking place in the distilling chamber, no mixture from one to the other loein possible Here the briquettes are surface hard= ened by indirect heat and directly by the products of combustion which pass all the way along this chamber.

. The operation in the retorting chamber is to render the product smokeless and it can be subjected to higher temperatures to coke it, if desired.

It will be seen therefore, that each stage i of the process is completely isolated from the others and yet continuity of the process is not interrupted. By the use of the products of combustion for producing the indirect heat in the first zone and used immediately afterwards at almost the same temperature in the second and third zones, increased thermal efficiency is provided and this efficiency is practically improved by the use of the same liquid seal for i the entry and exit for the product laden conveyor and for the intermediate zone. The positive isolation of the first two chambers thus provided is of particular importance as it permits of the recovery of the products distilled in the first chamber, where only indirect heat is used, without danger of contamination by gases used as direct heat in the hardening chamber.

The product is hardened in the hardening chamber by the blast of furnace gases enough to permit of eflicient and economical treatment in the retorting chamber where, as has been stated, it receives mass treatment and a large quantity of the material is always being acted upon.

I have described above a preferred embodiment of my invention utilizing an intermediate liquid seal. It must be understood, however, that it is quite feasible to isolate any two zones from one another mechanically. I prefer the liquid seal because it is more positive and free of any possible mechanical troui bles, although mechanical seals are sufficiently effective to be entirely practical.

Although I have illustrated and described only one form of the invention I am aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not'wish to be limited in this respect but what I do claim is 1. In an oven for preparing fuel briquettes, the. combination of a distilling chamber for distilling oil the volatile constituents of the binding material in the briquettes, a hardening chamber for hardening or baking the briquettes thereafter, means extending into and through said chambers and adapted to convey thebriquettes through said chambers, passing them into the hardening chamber and finally passing them out again, pipes in the distilling chamber, a furnace having connections for directing its heated products of combustion through the pipes in the distilling chamber without discharging any of them into the interior of said chamber, means for thereafter introducing the products of combustion into the hardening chamber to come into contact with the briquettes therein, and means for discharging the products of combustion from the hardening chamber.

2. In an apparatus for preparing ground fuel briquettes, the combination of a chamber having means for heating it by indirect heat, means for protecting said chamber from direct heat and the products of combustion therefrom, a second chamber having means for heating it by direct heat, an endless conveyor extending into and through said chamber to convey the briquettes into the first chamber and back and forth therein, entering at the bottom, and then through the second chamber, and means for preheating the first chamber, located below the bottom thereof, and heating entirely by indirect heat.

3. In an apparatus for preparing briquettes, the combination with a distilling chamber and a hardening chamber, of an endless conveyor extending into and through said chambers and adapted to convey the briquettes into the bottom of the distilling chamber, passing them back and forth therein up- Wardly and then taking them from the top of the distilling chamber into the hardening chamber and out, means for heating the hardening chamber, a series of heating pipes below the distillingchamber for carrying the heated products of combustion through the bottom of said chamber and heating it, and a blower for forcing heated gases in the distilling chamber down under the last named pipes and circulating the gases through them.

4. In an apparatus for preparing briquettes, the combination with a distilling chamber and a hardening chamber, of an endless conveyor having an upper and a lower strand for extending into and through said chambers and adapted to convey the briquettes into the bottom of the distilling chamzer, passing them back and forth therein and then taking them into the hardening chamber and passing them out of that chamber, a series of heating pipes below the distilling chamber for carr 'ng heated products of combustion throng the bottom of said chamber and heating the briquettes on the lowest strand of the conveyor to a distilling temperature therein, means for introducing said heated products of combustion into the hardening zone through a long conduit in such a manner as to give out indirect heat throughout the length thereof in said zone, and means 1 for then discharging said products of combustion into the atmosphere of the hardening zone at one end at a point where said products will have to traverse the whole length of the zone to the discharge point.

5. In an apparatus for preparing ground fuel briquettes, in combination, means for distilling the briquettes to drive ofl steam and lighter hydrocarbon products, means for receiving the briquettes therefrom, means for hardening their external surfaces, a retort, and means for introducing the briquettes into the retort from the hardening means, said retort comprising a large chamber having an inlet for products of combustion at the top extending across the middle of the retort, and slats slanting downwardly to provide inclined slanting spaces for discharging heated gases through the mass of fuel briquettes into the retort.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HENRY F. MAUREL.

CAD 

